Faults:

Those who had the car before me replaced the ignition coil packs.

The water pump went at 120,000 (only cost 18.00 for a new one, though).

The drivers door lock doesn't unlock with the power lock (will fix it soon).

General Comments:

I got this car for 500.00 in 2008. It isn't the prettiest thing, but it was cheap.

After driving it for a few weeks, I started to like the car. It gets great gas mileage 21 city, 29 highway. It has a lot of room, it's comfortable, and reliable. At 131,000 miles, it runs quite well. The exhaust is still fine, the body is in good shape, the motor and transmission are working well too.

I never thought I'd love owning a Chevy, but because of my experience with this Lumina, I'm getting another Chevy next... New Camaro, Impala or Malibu

Faults:

Intake manifold went at about 140K.

Alternator shortly thereafter.

Corrosion in the fuse box caused brake light circuit failure at approx 165K. This was probably worsened by the over-salting of the roads here in Ontario.

Somewhere in the 200's the gas tank started to leak and was replaced.

Water pump at 300K.

Transmission did the car in at about 320K.

General Comments:

An excellent car. Generally very easy to work on and parts were cheap and easily accessible. The waterpump, for example, I replaced at work for $60 CAN in about an hour.

The car probably would have lasted longer if the transmission fluid and filter had ever been changed. We were really waiting for an excuse to get rid of it.

Faults:

Nothing so far.

General Comments:

The '96 Lumina is a white-bread family sedan; there is nothing particularly offensive or interesting about it. It is roomy and the 3.1 V-6 is powerful enough and gets 19-21 in town and 29-30 on the highway. I ordered every option on mine, and it has the sport suspension with 16" alloys and handles well. The interior has held up well, the sound system sounds good, and controls make sense and are easy to use. I've been doing some more highway driving recently and it is like sitting on a sofa and rolling quietly down the road. The front seats are not especially comfortable.

Faults:

OK. Let me begin with this...

It was a car that made me feel bad, since I wrecked, repaired and sold it, and since even after the repairs it never quite really drove the way it did before the accident that occurred on that fateful day.

Over the course of 2 years that I had owned the vehicle, I had put in almost 300/-K.D. in repairs, since it was not covered under any warranty by the dealership, being a 10 year old+ car when I bought it.

At about 192000 km, the indicator flashers went out.

The black cooling rod just in front of the engine casing corroded due to rust, thus overheating the engine of the car. Replaced through dealership. Cost 25/-K.D.

The fuel pump broke down at a busy traffic signal, had it towed to the workshop. Total cost to replace and repair the pump 22/-KD.

The head gasket blew out at 208000 km. Cost me 50/-K.d. to replace and install the same.

The head gasket AGAIN blew out at 213000 km. Cost me 120/-K.d. to replace and install the same, including removing the clogs in the radiator and flushing the entire engine cooling system with anti-corrosion chemicals.

The car was backed into by a irresponsible teenager cruising at over 200 km in a red Corvette. My car spun around 4 times before grinding to a halt, and in the process the entire wheel bearing in the right rear just separated from the car, taking the tire along with it. The rear right door had to be replaced as a result of a direct impact from the other car. The entire repair job of replacing the door, wheel bearing, new tire and tire rim including a rear side paint job cost 120-K.D.

After this episode I sold the car as it had a very loud noise from the steering column, caused by the impact of the accident. Entire new steering column had to be replaced, which I didn't have interest nor the money to do so.

Apart from the above headaches, the car on the positive side had ample space to fit my small family of three, and huge trunk space to fit almost anything. Excellent A/C even in 45 degrees plus heat of the Middle East summer.

General Comments:

All in all, I love and hate the car at the same time. Not sure I would buy another Lumina of the same model ever again, but I should say the newer Luminas arriving now in the Middle east market are mostly produced in Australia, so their quality and performance is yet to be scrutinized by the auto experts, unlike mine, which was wholly and solely made in Canada.